London, Jan 21 (IANS) Gabriel Jesus’s first Champions League goals since November 2023 helped Arsenal win 3-1 over Inter Milan to make it eight victories from eight and guaranteed a top-two finish in this season’s Champions League.
Jesus struck twice from inside the box during the first half, Petar Sucic firing in a fierce equaliser and David Raya making a double save from Inter’s Federico Dimarco before the break.
Gunners substitute Viktor Gyokeres curled in with six minutes remaining of an end-to-end second period, ensuring his side stayed perfect as their opponents suffered a third straight defeat of the league phase.
With a win, Arsenal now set their longest-ever winning streak in Europe’s premier club competition and will now finish no lower than second in the table, securing a passage to the last-16 as well as home advantage in the second leg in the knockout phase.
Meanwhile, Tottenham boosted their chances of claiming a top-eight place with a convincing 2-0 win over Dortmund.
The home side started strongly and went ahead when Cristian Romero turned in Wilson Odobert’s low cross. Daniel Svensson was then sent off and Spurs added a second soon after as Dominic Solanke marked his return from injury with a goal.
The home side protected that 2-0 lead in the second half confidently and could have added to it, some promising chances falling for Xavi Simons.
Elsewhere, Manchester City were beaten 3-1 by Bodo/Glimt to dent their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the Champions League.
Bodo/Glimt’s central striker Kasper Hogh struck twice in the first two minutes of the first half for the Norwegian side as they caught out the Blues on the counter-attack to set up a famous victory.
Jens Petter Hauge then curled a superb third for the home side before Rayan Cherki pulled a goal back from the edge of the box.
However, City hopes of getting back into the match were hit when Rodri was shown a red card after picking up two quick yellows.
With an early kick-off, City remain in the top eight, but that will come under threat when the rest of the matchday seven games are played.
A win against Galatasaray is a must if they are to have a chance of avoiding a play-off.
–IANS
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